A brighter day does come
05/11/11 • 3 Comments

Hello Sunday Morning. Up at 5.30am and went for a walk through St Kilda and the Botanical Gardens. The weather was beautiful and so was the park. What wasn’t beautiful was the aftermath of the booze hound locals  and tourists in my suburb.  Bottles and beer cases were everywhere. I don’t know if it makes me more mad or more sad. There is embarrassment too as I feel in some way part of it. I feel like I was the poster boy for stupid living. Not that I partied like that but you have to ask yourself if there really is a difference. The costs to people and yourself are the same. For my part, I am leaving that behind me. I always thought that I was different to those people but I was not.  On to better things.   As I walked I got a strong urge to apologise [...]

21 Days Down – reward day :-)
29/10/11 • 3 Comments

Well, 21 days down and it’s time for my first reward.  Given how much mineral water I am drinking, it has to be a SODASTREAM!!!!! I didn’t know that they still existed.  I have been feeling guilty about lugging so many plastic bottles home from the supermarket so this should satisfy more than one need.    30 second commercial that will make the over 30′s smile http://youtu.be/wXTx1fVk9hU What have you chosen as rewards on your milestones?    

A different approach
23/10/11 • 7 Comments

  Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward     Well, well, well, what d’ya know? I can not drink for over two weeks and not die on the pavement! Let me bring you up to speed on how I have been handling things. A few personal and professional set backs during this week and yes I thought about drinking but I will not do it.  A trip to lovely Sydney for pleasure and work and yes I thought about drinking but I will not do it.  I decided that rather than avoiding socialising for a few weeks until I get my sober legs on, I decided to tackle it a slightly different way.  I invited my friends out to drinks a few times to celebrate me not drinking. Confused?  There is method in my madness, stay with me. Rather than avoiding everything, I chose [...]

Day 2 – The loss of a “friend”
08/10/11 • 2 Comments

Day 2 and no real problems. You see, I wasn’t really an everyday kind of drinker. What I am noticing is that as I start to take stock of my situation, my stress levels are rising. This is normally the point where I would start to make plans to see my old friend booze. Booze never judged, always consoled me and most importantly for me, reminded me I was in the right on most topics. Lonely feelings are creeping into my head today as I start to cut a path for myself that makes me more able to cope with a life on my own. I am using running as a distraction as many HSMers have posted. This works for me. Sparks

That sinking feeling….again
07/10/11 • 3 Comments

I woke up this morning with an all too familiar feeling – shame. Shame at getting into an unnecessary argument with a loved one last night. Today I am taking responsibility for my ever increasing stupidity. Starting NOW, Hello fellow HSMers. I promise to be a good peer to you all by posting my experiences and listening to yours. Wish me well. Will post again once I’ve figured out my next step. Sparks